What? You Don't Celebrate Christmas??!!
Many people ask me what traditions our household does around the holidays, especially if they know we are messianic Jews, or if I tell them we don't celebrate Christmas. Some are shocked to find out we do not decorate a tree, give expensive, elaborate gifts, go holiday shopping, stand under a mistletoe, or tell our son that Santa Claus is coming.
And the people that are the most shocked are my churched Christian friends. Many of them love the Lord. Many of them serve Him with everything that is within them. And yet, I find it that even when sincere, well-meaning people are given the truth about where their beloved Christmas holiday traditions really come from, they nod their head or look puzzled, or explain it away, and continue on business as usual. Although many people are sincere, as I have discovered, they can be sincerely wrong.
So I have decided to write a blog on the subject. I have recently gotten into contact with old friends from church and high school via Facebook and emails, and I would just like to mention the reasons I do not observe this celebration, namely because of the pagan roots of this so-called Christian holiday, the one believers are waging war over in the secular marketplace. I believe their efforts are ultimately in vain, for I do not believe "putting Christ back into Christmas" is a worthy cause. I will explain why.
Who Cares What I Think?
Of course, as the foundation for my arguement, I have to assume that everyone who wishes to seriously and honestly look at this issue must weigh with importance that what matters on the subject is not what you or I think about it. It does not matter that my family has been celebrating this holiday and has incorporated special traditions and memories around the festivities of December 25th for hundreds of years. It does not matter that this might be your favorite holiday of the year or that you get warm fuzzies everytime you hear a Chrsitmas song. What does matter, if you are a follower of the Messiah (Christ), whether you be a Jew or a gentile, is: what is God's opinion on the whole thing? It has been my experience that to find this out, one must be willing to be honest, willing to look at scripture, and of course PRAY. I encourage my friends at the outset, that if you are not sure and you honestly would like to know how God feels about the customs and traditions we keep, ask Him to make it plain to you how He feels about it. Ask Him to reveal truth to you. We have the Ruach HaKodesh, the Holy Spirit, which the Bible says will "lead you and guide you into all truth".
The Date
Most Bible scholars agree that while it is difficult to determine the exact time Yeshua (Jesus) was born, they know when it is NOT: It is not December 25th. For one thing, scripture reveals the circumstances surrounding Jesus' birth. The shepherds of Israel were attending their flocks in the fields. They would not be doing this during the winter months. So those who focus on the birth of Jesus on this date lose a little of their credibility because December 25 is not Jesus' birthday.
It is more plausible that Christ was born in Beit Lechem (Bethlehem) (literally 'House of Bread') during the autumn or spring months. Again, although it is speculation, many who study these things believe Messiah more than likely was born during the autumn feast of "Sukkot" also called the "Feast of Tabernacles", the clue they take is from John chapter 1 "And the word became flesh and dwelt (tabernacled) among us".
So Whose Birthday Is It??
In addition to December 25th being celebrated as the winter solstice by pagan cultures and the Feast of Saturnalia in Roman culture in particular, the birthday of December 25th belongs to another god....that of Tammuz....the re-born and "invincible" sun god. For more background on this figure from antiquity, I suggest going to Google or some other search engine. The information is vast and I do not have the time or desire to give him anything other than a quick mention.
But why is it such a crime to take a well-known and celebrated birthday of a foreign god and declare it a day as unto the Lord?
Well, for one: we have to look for precedence in scripture. What happened in the book of Exodus not long after Moses descended the mountain with the 10 commmandments? He found the Israelites engaging in pagan revelry and worshipping the golden calf (a pagan god they brought with them from Egypt). Many of them died at the hand of the Lord for doing this, not to mention Moses was very angry. But why was God so angry? Because they used the celebration of a false god in which to worship the Lord. God told them not to follow the ways of the pagans and use them to worship the one true God.
Again and again in scripture we find the Israelites engaging in idol worship and declaring it to be worship unto the Lord God of Israel. After much patience and grace, what was God's response? That's right...He did what He told them would happen if they would not repent....they reaped the consequence of being taken into captivity by their enemies. He tried repeatedly to warn them.
Moreover, concerning the very idol's birthday celebrated by pagans and Christians alike whether they realize it or not- Tammuz...we can know exactly how the Lord feels about this specific pagan god, for he is mentioned in scripture. In Ezekiel, the Lord told the prophet to enter a place in the holy temple in Jerusalem where an "abomination" was taking place. What did Ezekiel see?
Ezekiel 8:14 says:
Then He brought me to the entrance of the gate of the LORD'S house which was toward the north; and behold, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz.
In verse 6, The Lord calls what they are doing "utterly detestable" and declares that this practice will drive His presence far from the temple. Then, it goes on to say in Ezekiel 8:13, that the Lord tells the prophet he will see EVEN more wicked and detestable things than this. Then Ezekiel goes to the entrance between the portico (porch) and the altar and sees 25 men with their backs toward the temple and their faces toward the east and they were "bowing down to the sun in the east."
Remember that the god Tammuz was the invincible sun god. All sun god worship comes out of Babylon where the people were congregating in unity building the Tower of Babel and rebelling against God who told them to spread out over the earth, to fill and subdue it (Genesis). So how did they respond? By building a tower, undoubtedly in this writer's mind, in the shape of a phallic symbol, as all pagan religious systems incorporate some form of fertility gods and goddesses. Some aspects of all the false religions of the world come out of the practices in Babylon. There is nothing new under the sun. (Pun intended). It is all rebellion. Even the concept of humanism comes out of Babylon, by the way, and the American educational system is built on the foundation of this idea.
We also have to remember who was behind all of this rebellion: Satan. Lucifer. The one who originally rebelled against God in Heaven and took 1/3 of the angels with him. And being that all pagan roots have their origin in Lucifer's rebellion, we can see his plan to disprove God and His Word and destroy God's precious creation- man- who is made in the likeness of God and after God's own image and is the object of God's very own affection. The Jews call him "The satan"- the opposer-they do not even give him the dignity of a name. I'll bet that the satan is sitting back every December 25th laughing his head off, thinking he has pulled the wool over the eyes of God's people yet again and is thus mocking our creator and savior. All because so many people are in agreement with him and his ways. In fact, I would venture to say that in modern American Christianity, and unless people repent and ask God's forgiveness for these heinous practices, the devil is gaining the victory.
What About Trees and other Customs? They're Harmless, Right?
Well, that depends on what you think of Jeremiah 10:3, which, concerning the ways of the idolatrous nations, says, "For the customs of the peoples are worthless; they cut a tree out of the forest, and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel. They adorn it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so it will not totter". How much more specific can you get than that?! The Lord even describes how people make a stand for the tree! A practice still carried out today...to the letter. And I should also remind you that this custom pre-dates the birth of Christ by several hundreds of years. Therefore, it has nothing to do with His birth, and does not glorify Him at all.
Mistletoe was used by the pagans as a fertility rite. The story of Santa Claus is a fable and a fraud. What's more, many people every year lie to their children about this fraud, telling them Santa is real (it is just a nice, harmless fantasy, right?!), getting their children to adore this being who will give them gifts, then parents threaten them saying they will get nothing if they are not good and obedient all year long, but reward them with gifts in the end anyway, thus making the True giver of all good gifts out to be some pansy deity who does not punish unrighteousness.
There are many more startling facts about this so called "holiday" which is not a "holy day" at all, too many to get into in this entry. I can direct you to other resources if you have the desire to study these roots further.
But We Are Under Grace, Not Under Law...Right?
False teaching in the church has led many people to believe that we do not have to keep the Lord's commandments. That we do not have to do what He says. Or in the least, we only have to keep the 2 "new" ones Jesus gave. This is patently false. Number one: Jesus was summing up the heart of the entirety of His commandments by saying Love God with all your heart mind, soul, and strength and love your neighbor as yourself. Secondly, God NEVER abolished His word (the commandments. Indeed the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Yeshua, the same yesterday, today and forever-Hebrews 13:8) and Yeshua also clarified, "Think not that I came to destroy the law and the prophets....I have not come to destroy, but to fulfill" (That word fulfill in the Greek means 'to uphold to its highest and fullest expression') The commandments Jesus gave were in fact, not new at all. The entire Torah (the five books of Moses) are an explanation and an expansion on how to keep God's commandments.
Doesn't it matter to us what Jesus actually said? Or would we rather follow our church's or man's tradition?
Indeed, Paul said he would have never known sin except for the Law (Torah). It is like looking into a mirror to see how inadequate we are and how we of ourselves cannot keep God's commandments, thus earning our way into Heaven. That is why we have Yeshua, Jesus, who fulfilled the entire Torah (indeed He IS Torah- think on that one for awhile- we serve an unfathomable God!) and became our atonement for violating God's law ('For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God'). But Yeshua did not die for us so that we could go on sinning. No, make no mistake, there will come a day when we will be held accountable to the God of the universe for what we did with the truth when we became aware of it. That day is coming sooner than you think. For Jesus says in the parable of separating the sheep from the goats in Matthew 25, "Depart from me you workers of iniquity", this means 'you transgressors of the law', "for I never knew you". And they will be thrown into outer darkness.
Many Christians mistakenly believe that when believers in the Body of Messiah start teaching about the Law, that we are trying to put people "back under the law". This is a misunderstanding. Jesus Himself said, "If you love me, keep my commandments" and "Those who keep my commandments and teach others to do the same, will be called greatest in the kingdom..." What are the commandments? THE LAW. The problem is not the law itself. The law is good. It is the trying to keep the law in our own flesh that is condemned in scripture. For when we sow to the flesh we reap of the flesh corruption. That is why we must be born again and have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to work through us to follow God's commandments (His teachings). Then His law is written on our hearts and the desire to sin (trangress the law) is abolished. We have the ability to be perfect- to keep God's Law. Since the Holy Spirit is Messiah dwelling in us, I think He has the ability to keep His own commandments! And those who persist in rebellion are actaully falling away from the faith.
In the first century church, there arose a controversy amongst pharisees who were also followers of Yeshua when it was evident that gentiles could become born again and followers of Jesus also (up to that point the whole church consisted of only Jews). These pharisees were saying that in order for non-Jews to become followers of Jesus, (there's a paradox for our times!), they had to FIRST CONVERT to Judaism, be circumcised, and THEN they could follow the Jewish Messiah. There was no precedent for this situation.
So the apostles met at the council of Jerusalem to settle the dispute prayerfully and responsibly. This is recorded in Acts 15. In the letter to the gentiles as recorded in Acts, it says in verse 28 "It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals, and from sexual immorality". (emphases mine)
If we look closely at what is required of gentile believers in the Messiah, we will see our issue addressed. The text says to "abstain from food sacrificed to idols". How much more, then, as children of God, are we to abstain from the actual practice (sin) of idolatry itself?!
Finally, for those believers who put emphasis on the close and personal relationship we have with the Lord above any kind of talk of the Law, and say it is all about knowing Him and walking with Him in His grace.....I say this: wouldn't it seem wise to take into consideration His feelings regarding the matter? For those who truly follow Jesus Christ, would not want to grieve His Spirit. From the Lord's reaction to the practices in Ezekiel chapter 8, I think we can safely assume that these pagan-rooted practices are grievous to Him.
For those Christians who are desperate to see a move of God in their lifetime unlike any they have ever seen before- from just the scriptures we have been looking at here it is apparent what types of things can actually block or hinder such a move of God. I hope we heed these warnings from God's Word.
So What NOW?
I will share more of my own personal testimony in my next blog entry. But by the time I asked myself this question "So what do I do now?", I had already begun celebrating the Lord's appointed feasts as outlined in Leviticus 23. Additionally, I began celebrating some of the festivals celebrated by Israel and the Jewish people, including Hanukkah, also called the Feast of Dedication, which some Christians are surprised to know that Jesus Himself celebrated (John 10:22), even though this particular feast was instituted by man and not by God. There is evidence enough in the Bible that ALL the nations will be required to celebrate the Lord's appointed feasts during Jesus' future reign on earth (I will deal more with that in the future), so my reasoning is this: why not start NOW? God is a wise and loving Father. He does not take away so that we will have nothing and be destitute and sad. For me, the Lord had given me a love for Israel and the Jews, including celebrating right along with them, long before He required me to totally come out of celebrating Christmas. For me, it was a process. It took time. What was required of me was a response to the truth. I had to remain determined and I had to walk in repentance. There was someone who was in the same process right along with me. The Lord was so good to give me a companion to walk this unfamiliar road. Turned out He was leading her in the same direction. My good friend Stephanie VanderWal Zlab. The Lord has used Stephanie and me as "two witnesses" to the Body of Messiah regarding these issues, much as the Lord used Paul and Barnabas sending them to the believers at Antioch with the letter containing the decision of the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15. The Lord has used Stephanie mightily as a teacher and prophet to the Body of Messiah. I encourage you to read her blog entries on the subject by going to:
http://from-thewall.blogspot.com/
Stay tuned for works in progress on her site as well.
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